Obama's marriage comments hailed by gay Utah couples

Utahns React to Obama on Same-Sex Marriage

President Barack Obama said Wednesday that he personally supports gay couples' right to marry, but that it is an issue to be decided by the states. "At a certain point I've just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married," he told ABC News. Here is how Utahns reacted to the president's comments.

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Some were for it ...

Obama endorses gay marriage and Romney swiftly opposes it. Surprise. When is the GOP going to get with the 21st century on social issues?Daniel Godfrey

Thank you to President Obama for personally affirming the civil right of marriage for all Americans.Sacred Circle

Finally Obama! I almost thought I'd have to throw my vote away on Ron Paul this year.Alex Perry

President Obama has shown us all that PEOPLE can CHANGE...it's refreshing that he came out and spoke in favor of gay marriage.Jenna Santelli

So excited to hear that President #Obama now supports gay marriage! He's seeing the light! Haha.Rosie Nguyen

I don't necessarily agree with gay marriage but who am I to tell anyone else what they can or cannot do...Love me some ObamaKelli Washington

Today is a good day in America. We are proud to see President Obama support marriage equality! #equalitynowEquality Utah

#1: Thank you. #2: About damn time. "@BarackObama: "Same-sex couples should be able to get married."âPresident Obama"Dennis Jolley

Smart political calculus as indicated @ppppolls Obama campaign likely believes electoral downside to announcement is small and limited.selectiveecho

Obama stepped out and supported gay marriage. Now we have to step out and support him. #Obama2012Kate Cardell

Obama pisses me off daily but his actions today made LGBT history. I feel no cynicism, just profound gratitude he did right. #utpol #gayUSATroy Williams

Wow!! Finally something Obama folded on that I can get behind!! http://goo.gl/OV7NBCraig Wilkey

I literally cannot stop smiling. President Obama, thank you for changing lives and making equality happen. One (huge) step closer. #EqualityMichael S Johnson

Some were irritated ...

The fact that it took Obama 4yrs to "support" gay marriage is ridiculous! All of a sudden when his time in office is almost done! SmhLarissa Estrada

Flip, flop....he was against gay marriage before he was for it. That's "evolution." http://ow.ly/aOeRm #obamaDaniel Burton

Has Obama weighed in on me marrying a farm animal? Cause from what I heard that's the next thing.Zach

Obama will say about anything at this point to get votes... Remember what he said about jobs 4 years ago? Where are the permanent jobs?D Joel Marquez

Obama is acting desperate. He knows he's in trouble, so he thinks if he stoops low and allows this gay agenda, he'll win the election.JB

Of course Obama's views 'evolve' right when its politically advantageous to him & the Dems with the North Carolina gay marriage ban outrage.UtahforHuntsman

Some had a different take ...

If gay people want to be married let them join in the misery of the rest of us: http://bit.ly/J23feIdave anderton

This is my one comment on gay marriage. This election is about the economy, NOT social issues that distract from it and Obama's record.Daniel Jensen

If Obama has his way, we will all be forced to have a gay marriage. In a Muslim death camp. With no flag pins.Chad Romney

guys, it's like saying racism is over because Obama is president. Marriage wont eliminate the oppression the LGBT community faces.jennichs

Fox news headline: "OBAMA DECLARES WAR ON MARRIAGE" this is such a minimal issue. worry about our checkbook let gays do whatever they want.AlexG

You do realize that it doesn't matter what Obama said because it's up to congress to pass laws giving more rights to lgbt people, right?Helium Filled Tiger

The statement has symbolic power, but supporters and critics alike say its practical effect in states like Utah is nil.

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This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

In February, after being together for 11 years, Steve Verno and Ben Brown traveled from their Sandy home to wed in New York City, a lifetime commitment that Verno said was important to the couple.

"To be able to experience a marriage and say 'We are married.' To share that with the one you love and spend your life with â¦ To have the same right that everyone else has to be married," said Verno in explaining the ceremony's significance. "A civil union, it's just not the same to me. I should have that right to be married."

Verno said he sees President Barack Obama's endorsement Wednesday of same-sex marriage  at least from his personal perspective  as an acknowledgment of relationships like his.

"The president's comments today are important in that he is supportive. I feel like things are changing in this country slowly," said Verno, who is planning a celebration of his marriage to Brown with their Utah friends later this month.

Obama's comments mark the first time a U.S. president has publicly endorsed marriage for same-sex couples, although he also said that he supports the states' ability to decide which marriages it will recognize.

In Utah, voters passed Amendment 3 in 2004, restricting marriage to a union between a man and a woman. Voters in North Carolina approved a similar ban Tuesday.

Opponents of same-sex marriage and civil unions say the president's stance shouldn't come as a surprise and likely won't change anything in the larger marriage debate.

"It's hardly a surprise. I think if anyone asked me yesterday what the president's real position on the issue is, I'd say he supports same-sex marriage," said William Duncan, a Brigham Young University professor and director of the Marriage Law Foundation, which opposes gay marriage.

Duncan said that the Obama administration has declined to defend the Defense of Marriage Act and has colluded with interest groups fighting in court to legalize same-sex marriage. The U.S. Supreme Court could rule on the legality of California's Proposition 8 by the end of the year.

Duncan said that big donors to Obama's campaign care deeply about the same-sex marriage issue and his comments alleviate pressure on the president.

Clifford Rosky, a law professor at the University of Utah who has studied gay and lesbian issues, said the president's comments have symbolic weight, but because he emphasized states should decide for themselves how to define marriage, they don't carry any legal heft, particularly in Utah.

"Politically this has impact. Culturally it has tremendous impact. Imagine what it means to someone that the president of the United States believes they should be able to marry," said Rosky. "But from a practical matter in Utah, it has no impact."

State Rep. Brian Doughty, the only openly gay member of the Utah Legislature, said he was excited to see Obama take a stand on the issue and considers it a "big leap forward."

"[It means] President Obama realized our families have value to our society and we deserve equal rights," Doughty said. "My hope is that one day in my lifetime we can look back at Amendment 3 and all the other states that amended their constitutions to define marriage between one man and one woman to be shameful discrimination against gay and lesbian couples, and to have the president step out and say, 'I support gay and lesbian couples having the right to marriage' is just one step along the way."

James Humphreys, the political director of the Utah Log Cabin Republicans, got married in California in 2008, because he had a right to wed, even though "my own home state chooses to treat me like a second-class citizen." Humphreys said he spent the weekend calling aunts and uncles in North Carolina, pleading with them to vote against that state's ban on same-sex marriage.

"I'm still not going to vote for President Obama in the fall just because he supports same-sex marriage," Humphreys said. "This election is a financial election, not a social election. It's about jobs, jobs, jobs. While I applaud the president taking such a stance personally, I don't think it matters."

Utah's members of Congress outlined their opposition to gay marriage but took no shots at Obama, a restrained response in a normally combative political atmosphere.

"The president is certainly entitled to his own opinion, but I stand with Utah on this issue," said Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, noting that the state Constitution defines marriage as purely heterosexual.

Lee and Obama do agree on one point: that states should decide the issue for themselves.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, called marriage "a sacred union between a man and a woman" that should be preserved.

"I'm glad the president finally laid out his position to the American people, but changing the definition of marriage is not something I can support," he said.

Utah's GOP U.S. House members Rob Bishop and Jason Chaffetz said they disagreed with the president's position. Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, did not respond to a request for comment.

The Utah Republicans' positions are similar to that of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, a fellow Mormon, whose position is identical to that of his church.

"I do not favor marriage between people of the same gender and I don't favor civil unions if they're identical to marriage other than by name," Romney told a TV reporter. "My view is domestic partnership benefits, hospital visitation rights and the like are appropriate, but the others are not."

State Sen. Margaret Dayton, R-Orem, said it was surprising to see Obama endorse same-sex marriage the day after North Carolina banned it. It is the 31st state to pass a constitutional amendment aimed at defending traditional marriage.

"In every state where the people have voted on the definition of marriage, there is majority support for marriage being defined as a union between a man and a woman," she said. gehrke@sltrib.comTwitter: @RobertGehrke

Matt Canham contributed to this report. 

Harry Reid's view

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the highest ranking elected official who is Mormon, issued the following statement on gay marriage:

"My personal belief is that marriage is between a man and a woman. But in a civil society, I believe that people should be able to marry whomever they want, and it's no business of mine if two men or two women want to get married. The idea that allowing two loving, committed people to marry would have any impact on my life, or on my family's life, always struck me as absurd.

"In talking with my children and grandchildren, it has become clear to me they take marriage equality as a given. I have no doubt that their view will carry the future.

"I handled a fair amount of domestic relations work when I was a practicing lawyer, and it was all governed by state law. I believe that is the proper place for this issue to be decided as well."

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., on the U.S. Senate Democrats website.

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